West Ham United’s return to Premier League football didn’t entirely go to plan on Saturday afternoon.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side looked on course to win their third game on the bounce when Callum Wilson made it 2-0 against Bournemouth in the 35th minute. However, the Cherries fought back, and thanks to a penalty and a goal from Enes Unal, came away with a point.
With that said, in the context of the season at large, it’s still a good point for the Hammers, especially as they had to make do without dynamic Crysencio Summerville and Lucas Paqueta.
Unfortunately, the Dutchman won’t be fit for the Liverpool game, but Nuno might have the perfect solution, one that involves dropping Luis Guilherme.
Guilherme's game vs Bournemouth
Now, the first thing to say is that Guilherme is still a promising talent and someone who could develop into a real star for West Ham.
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However, what is equally true is that he failed to make a case for why he should be in the starting lineup in place of the injured Summerville next time out.
The young Brazilian wasn’t terrible on Saturday, but he was almost entirely ineffective, looking unable to create chances for his teammates or get himself into positions where chances could be supplied to him.
Moreover, the 19-year-old still looks as slight as ever and lacks any real power or pace, which are two traits becoming increasingly important for attackers in the Premier League.
Unsurprisingly, the manager decided to take him off at the break, which only made his dire statistics even more pitiful.
Minutes
45′
Expected Goals
0.00
Expected Assists
0.01
Shots
0
Passes
10
Touches
21
Lost Possession
9
Dribbles (Successful)
3 (1)
Ground Duels (Won)
8 (1)
Dribbled Past
1
In his 45 minutes of inaction, the Brazilian registered an expected assists figure of 0.01, failed to take a single shot, took just 21 touches, failed in 66% of his dribbles, lost the ball nine times, completed ten passes, was dribbled past and lost seven of eight duels.
In short, Guilherme proved he cannot come in for Summerville again, so Nuno has to bring in one of the club’s most exciting prospects instead.
West Ham's Summerville solution
The player Nuno should bring into the squad to replace Guilherme and help solve the blow of Summerville’s injury is George Earthy.
Now, that might sound bold, and perhaps it is, but the academy gem has long been talked about as one of the club’s next stars, and his time at youth level and out on loan suggests as much.
For example, in 60 appearances for the u18s, totalling 4804 minutes, he scored 25 goals and provided 18 assists, which is an average of a goal involvement every 1.39 games, or every 111.72 minutes.
Then, during his time with the u21s, he scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists in 55 appearances, totalling 3618 minutes, which is an average of a goal involvement every 1.71 games, or every 113.06 minutes.
In other words, the Havering-born gem is a dual threat: a goalscorer and a creator.
Appearances
60
55
Minutes
4804′
3618′
Goals
25
18
Assists
18
14
Goal Involvements per Match
0.71
0.58
Minutes per Goal Involvement
111.72′
113.06′
Moreover, with 40 appearances for Bristol City last season, during which he was named young player of the year, he has plenty of genuine first-team experience under his belt already.
With all of that said, the “priceless” youngster, as dubbed by coach Steve Potts, is primarily an attacking midfielder, and so it would make sense to play him there against Liverpool, which means the man who’d actually outright replace Guilherme is actually Paqueta.
Yes, the Brazilian is also primarily a central player, but has made 36 club appearances on the left-hand side in his career, as well as six for the Brazilian national team.
Anyway, having the former Lyon gem further forward could help make the team more dangerous in attack, while also allowing the 21-year-old to get up to speed in a more familiar position.
Ultimately, it is not ideal, but Guilherme made it clear against Bournemouth that he cannot start games at the moment. Therefore, bringing the incredibly talented Earthy into the middle and allowing Paqueta to play on the left could be the answer to Summerville’s absence – at least for now.
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